Customer Reviews

The Verificationist: A Novel

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This 179-page novella is in a way the stream of consciousness of Tom, a middle-aged pyschologist who, meeting with his colleagues in a lower end pancake house, tries to start a food fight when a rival colleague, a burly man with a swollen ego, puts our narrator in a bear hug upon which Tom has an out of body experience in which he does a glorious exposition on the nature of pancake houses. The real business of this absurd (I mean that as a compliment), allegorical novel is to poke fun at the human need for safety, for mother, for the womb, all embodied by the pancake house. Tom's quest for a mother in the metaphorical sense compels him to invite his colleagues at this pancake emporium every year or so where they try to mend the their bruised egos, a quest that backfires. Antrim's major conflict in the novel is the human drive for safety vs. our utter sense of helplessness in this metaphysical parody, which showcases Antrim's brilliant writing skills. Why only four stars? Because after about 100 pages, I grew a bit tired of the metaphysical explorations. Similar themes are pursued with far more intensity and efficacy in my opinion in Antrim's 20-page essay, "I Bought a Bed," published in Best American Essays 2003.

Sometimes, when a book is CLEARLY schlocky, poorly written and/or unentertaining, it is easy to pan it without a second thought. With other books, however--which for the reader share only the "unentertaining" part--but which are otherwise not poorly written and on a more sophisticated level, one must step back and ask oneself: Let's wait a minute. Is it possible that this is a work of creative genius and that I simply don't "get it." That my imagination and/or intellect may be too limited to appreciate what a wonderful (provocative, intelligent, well-crafted, etc., etc.) book this actually is?

Well I asked myself those kinds of questions, and while I would readily concede that my reaction may well be a function of my own intellectual limitations, particularly given all the raves this book got, I don't care--I'm sticking with my convictions. I found the book to be almost insufferable throughout. It was nearly impossible for me to trudge all the way through- though I did, page by agonizing page, waiting for it to end. I simply can't believe that everyone who reads this book could find it so wonderful, and if I'm the only one in the world who would recommend against it, so be it.

Reading Antrim is proof positive of the adage that you can't dissect or explain humor. His stuff is just preposterously funny and unique. He had a short story in the NYer not long ago (and this is how I discovered him) about a lascivious high school teacher staging Shakespeare with students and I still can't think of it without laughing. This novel is the same way. Yet I can't "explain" the humor. It owes something, maybe, to Nabokov's Pale Fire and the voice of the grandiose, deluded, hilarious Charles Kinbote--but that's pretty imprecise. Antrim is his own thing, and he's a great discovery. A heartbreaking work of staggering humor.

A light book on the surface - but when you're finished, it begs to be read again to make sure you picked up all the subtle nuances. The unorthodox 'plot' works well and the narrative is always crisp ( my only problem with the storytelling is that annoying habit 'serious' authors feel they must invoke these days of an overly conversant tone - phrases like 'you see' and 'shall I say' etc). Tom is kind of an everyman trying to figure out the daily game of life on immediate and philosophical levels. He is given the advantage of a bird's eye view (literally) of his world and doesn't waste the unique opportunity.

I'd recommend this to anyone looking for something slightly different, but still accesible

It's easy to see why someone may not like this book -- it doesn't really have a standard plot, and it goes back and forth between reality and fantasy. Traditional storytelling is just too important to most readers. Also, it is, at its core, a book about psycho-therapy, and certainly people have widely and wildly differing opinions on that. But the book has one of the most honest, open, and searching narrators to come down the pike in many a moon. I particularly loved that he was willing to fearlessly discuss intellectual matters, something new fiction does less and less frequently these days. And if it rests on intellectualism to be funny, what's wrong with that? To the extent that these are not the tactics of most pop ficiton writers today, whom all seem to write for a far lower common denominator, this is somewhat risky writing. Obviously, the writer is more concerned with telling this character's story than with crafting something that's going to go over with a mass audience. All of which made me love this book. It's not for everyone, but neither is fine wine, nor the Marx Brothers.

This book worked for about the first 30 pages and then not at all after that. The idea of a bunch of screwed up shrinks getting together was very creative and the execution of it was hysterical. The whole thing about the out-of-body experience didn't work and the book went downhill from there. I felt like I was wasting my time and couldn't wait until this book was over. I skipped a bunch of pages toward the back and resumed reading at the end, but it never got as good as in the beginning.

Somehow I think the definitive novel is one that is free to say anything about anything as Antrim does here and in his other novels. The trick is( or the art is) if its enjoyable and interesting. Antrim 'Verificationist' takes writing freedom to it's limits in a wonderful spell-binding way.Strange, beautiful, very funny masterpiece. It seems perfect while being unlike any book one has ever read.

...What was I expecting? Well... perhaps a relaxed read with which to fall asleep, a novel which would have no point (i.e. The hitchhikers guide).

What did I find? The story started off in simple fashion and before long began on a wild ride through the mind of an off-the edge psychiatrist flying through a pancake shop. I continued to read till the last page, and still...

What was the book about? I have no idea

Did I enjoy this? Definitely

I am looking forward to reading Donald Antrim's other novels.

This tour de force depicts one night in the life of a debauched Fruedian psychoanalyst who caters to the problems, parameters, issues, obligations, and overt manias, mindsets, and mumblings of adolescent females in today's society. An astute observer of human nature, the waitress who attempts to serve pancakes to Antrim's narrator, has dark eyebrows and a certain delightful savoir faire which is sure to intoxicate busboys and readers alike. Though young, she engages in what I'll call "a flight of the fancy" with the narrator, who undergoes the travails of an uneasy intellect obliged to run in the rat race of the contemporary psychiatric establishment until it is released to soar above the merely ordinary and dares to "just connect!"

When I bought this book from amazon.com several months ago, I set it aside in my library to "save" it for a time when I needed an extra special read. From all the hoopla this book received, I expected to read a fabulous book, though certainly a strange one. Well, the strange part is true, but a fabulous book this is not.

During a pancake dinner for therapists, Tom has an out-of-body experience/nervous breakdown. Told in first person narrative, The Verificationist explores what Tom's physical body is going through, as well as where his "out of body" body is experiencing. Although the book didn't do for me what I'd expected, some of the passages were a rather interesting if depressing glimpse into the mind of a middle-aged man. If focusing on neuroses and insecurities is the kind of thing you like, then Tom's recollection of the discussion his wife had while he was going to the bathroom should be of interest. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I was drawn into it myself. Another scene, wherein Tom spies two of his colleagues engaged in what he believes are the preliminary battle lines drawn before sexual congress, is also fascinating.

All in all, though, this book added up to far less than the sum of its parts. Yes, the premise was unique, and while it did provide the occasional insight, more often than not the writing was self-indulgent.

TTFN, Laurie Likes Books

Publisher, All About Romance